Happy New Year my sewing & nonsewing friends

I've been a sewing fool, it seems; so much so, that I haven't taken time to share it with you!

Christmas meant making Christmas stockings, a lot of them, and other stuff. Here's a sampling of what's been whirring in my machine and by hand. So easy, all of it, and fun to look at and give as gifts.

After Christmas, I took the Christmas mug mats/coasters up and the table looked empty. I remembered my stash of yellow and blue fabrics, but them into 1-1/2" strips, and created log cabin mug mats for myself. The binding is some left over blue bias tape and the back is made from a scrap fabric. I still have some leftovers of the blue and yellow fabric. Who knows where it will end up next. These are a little over 4" in circumference. 

Ooops, that's not sewing! A couple of plates of cookies found their way into my camera. How'd that happen? I make a butter cookie with my mother's icing - confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, food coloring, and just enough water to make it spreadable. It hardens, but does not get crunchy like royal icing. They're so good! My kids said this year I used weird colors. They're right! 

I saw a Christmas tree skirt with dachshund silhouettes on it. That sent me on a hunt for a German shepherd dog silhouette. I found a coloring page that was just right. I traced that onto Wonder Under, changing a bit here and there, fused the Wonder Under to Christmas fabric, and cut them out. They, then, were fused to an oval of complementary Christmas fabric, satin stitched, and backed with a fun cheater quilt Christmas fabric. I made the bias binding out of a bit of this and that and voila, placemats. 

Joanna is a friend of my daughter's. She painted an amazing portrait of our last three dogs. It was my present to my husband this year. I figured she deserved a tip, so Christmas stocking it was!

She's an avid archer, so I printed a photo she had posted on Facebook onto fabric. Then I worked around it with some candy cane fabric strips. 

When I think of archery, for some reason, I think of fringe. I had happened to have some red suede fringe, so there you go - the finishing touch. 

Oh yeah, a few potholders too. The Redskins one was a gift. They still don't play so well, but she's a fan.  

As usual, it's backed with denim patchwork. Love my recycled denim! Plus, it does add a layer of protection along with the InsulBrite.

I had some Steelers scraps, so why not? Same thing. Denim backing. There's a fan out there somewhere that wants this.

My daughter asked if I could make a stocking for her boyfriend. She sent me a picture of his dog Photoshopped into a Christmas scene, and as with Joanna's stocking, I printed it on fabric and worked around it with a variety of strips that I've been collecting. The strips were all made of 2" squares and cut down to 1-1/2" wide. It was fun to arrange them. Here is it half done. You can see my blue marks where I was aiming to keep things on point. I don't always use marking, but I recommend it for beginners. I'm an old timer, but still wanted them for precision.

This photo is of the front of it before it was attached to the quilted backing. I'll have a photo of that some day! 

Overall, my year-end sewing has been fun. There's more, but I haven't taken pictures yet. Where I used to be a potholder crazy person, now I'm a Christmas stocking crazy person. So much color, so fun, great to give away or sell, and the make me smile.

My one resolution in regard to sewing is the same as last year - Sew a little bit every day and continue to destash the sewing room.

Happy pins and needles to  you. Sew on!

Been sewing a bit

I have a ton of Steeler fabric hanging around and it was time to put some to use. I cut out some emblems and pieced them together, than made a quilted potholder with InsulBrite, batting, and denim on the back. I used commercial bias tape for the binding. I have a bunch of that too. When that's gone, I'll go back to making my own. The potholder is about 8" square. I like to round the corners to make the binding a little easier. Is that a cheat? Maybe so :)

General instructions for making potholders can be found in our tutorial. 

This was a really quick project, but I felt good making it. I'm working on some Steeler mug mats similar to the Virginia Tech coasters/mug mats I made recently. These are about 5" in diameter and I used orange fabric to go with the Virginia Tech fabric and some M&M fabric for the back. There is a thin piece of batting in the center. You can learn how to make a mug mat using our tutorial 

I'm trying to get the puppy to understand that mama's gotta sew! She treated me to a lovely pose this evening to show me that she gets it.

Happy sewing! Be safe, my neighbors to the north. You're about to get slammed with a lot of snow, they say. I say it's a good time to cuddle up with your fabric and hand sewing if your power goes out, and if you do have power, hit the machine and do some quickie projects to keep your creative juices flowing.

Project - Mug Mats (Last Minute Gift Idea!)

Out of gifts for your friends for Christmas? Make these! I made them in an afternoon, including the picture taking and binding. All you need is fabric scraps, leftover batting (regulation batting, old towel, flannel, etc.), and some imagination. You can make your own bias binding or use purchased bias tape. I happened to choose Virginia Tech fabric for the strip quilting and M&Ms fabric for the back. Have fun, and get to stitchin! You have prezzies to make :)

Click here or click on our projects link on the right. 

Mug mats gone awry!

I started a mug mat project. I wanted to give a friend of mine a little something for a favor she had done. I picked out some vintage quilt top, muted batik backing, and some batting, and got ready to get going.

I used a glass for a pattern and then cut 1/4" around that. The blue line is disappearing ink. Love that stuff. Here's where I made my first error. The circle should have been about an inch or more larger. 

I made a sandwich of backing wrong side up, batting, and quilt piece right side up and reinforced the seams of the vintage quilt top with a zig-zag stitch. 

I had some blue bias binding left over from another project and began to stitch it in a 1/4" seam on the right side of the mat. It was about now that I realized this was not going well and the mat itself may not lie flat due to its size. 

I folded the bias binding to the back and hand stitched the reverse side. As you can see in the photos below, I had almost cup shaped mats!

They're cute, but not even close to what I intended to make. 

PLAN B!

I actually tossed them aside and then decided to dig them out of the trash and make a mini wall hanging. I got some white ribbon and made a loop for the top and attached each circle to the ribbon. 

You can see where I made a "fringe" of extra ribbon on the bottom for a touch of fun.

So, no mug mats for my friend, but a tiny wall hanging for me and some lessons learned. A 4" square of fabric does not make a good sized circle mug mat. I will try again for sure. I have three vintage quilt tops to play with. I can make bias binding in my sleep. And batting? I have enough to keep an army warm. 

If you're interested in trying your own hand at mug mats/mug rugs, here are a couple links to patterns and one link to binding instructions. I'll have to read over these myself before I try to make another set!

Tip Nut Mug Rugs

Curious Quilter Mug Rug Patterns

Chicken Julie''s binding instructions

Just a little sewing

I've been doing a bit of sewing here and there and finally finishing a few things. I changed my mind about the baby quilt noted below, but you'll have to wait to see what I ended up putting together. I used the fabrics (other than the backing) that I said I would, but well, it's not done yet. 

Today, I started working on some mug mats. All I have left to do on those is the binding. I'll post the pictures in a sort of tutorial after I get the photos ready to go.

The one thing I did finish was a tiny little drawstring bag. My husband had asked me to make a velvet drawstring bag for a firearm part he wanted protected. I don't have any velvet, but I do have fleece! this was a quickie project, but it'll work fine for storing the cylinder he needed to have it for. I thought it was cute enough to photograph, so there you have it.

I'm about to be semi-retired (after May 31), so I'm looking toward my stash and dreaming of sewing projects that I've been putting off. Oh yeah! Etsy, watch out. I'm getting ready to get my sewing act together again. 

How's your scrap stitching going?